Several weeks ago I spend half a Monday hanging out with Paul Bass (left), a veteran journalist who is the founder and editor of the New Haven Independent, a non-profit community news site.
Decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court come down on Mondays, and Bass was on tenterhooks waiting to see if the court would rule on Ricci v. DeStefano, the affirmative-action case involving New Haven firefighters.
It didn’t happen then, but it did today, and the Independent has a meaty, link-rich post on what the five-to-four decision in favor of white firefighters means both to the city and to the nomination of Judge Sonya Sotomayor, whose opinion was overruled.
The established daily, the New Haven Register, offers an extensive package of coverage as well.
Ironically, I’m writing this post from the office of the Batavian, an online-only newspaper in Batavia, N.Y., which, like the Independent, I’m reporting on for my book-in-progress.
Photo (cc) 2009 by Dan Kennedy.
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Bill Weye
Sotomayor's opinion was not overturned. It was an unsigned opinion by the entire court … from what I've read, she didn't even write the unsigned opinion for the court.Why is it that 1 out of a 100 people get this?
lkcape
But she was on the panel that gave the case short shrift.It's her's, whether she likes it or not.That's why!
Amused
An unsigned per curiam opinion is overturned on grounds of statutory interpretation on which not only were constitutional issues not reached, the majority's decision is based on the sufficiency of the evidence used by the city for its actions.It's going to be interesting to see how the right wingers twist the decision to further their absurd attempt to paint a Latina as racist. On its plain face, this decision won't change a single vote on the nomination.
bostonmediawatch
How is this a big deal for Sotomayor? The vote was 5-4, not 9-0.How is it any different than being on the dissenting side?
lkcape
It will be interesting to see how the left spins that blatant racial discrimination isn't.It seems as though the left wants a pre-determined outcome of any test: x whites, y blacks and z Hispanic.I wonder how long it will take the left to understand the true meaning of Dr. King's statement on the the judgment of people on the strength of their character, not the color of their skin.